STS-92 Day 9 Highlights

Following four consecutive days of on-orbit construction outside the
International Space Station, Discovery^“s astronauts today will
work inside the Unity and Zarya modules, completing some final
connections for the new Z1 truss and transferring equipment for use by
the first resident crew, slated to arrive early next month.

Once inside, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff
will gather samples from various surfaces in the Zarya module to
characterize the on-board environment and identify any microbial
growth. They also will inspect and wipe down some surfaces and
stowage bags with a fungicide to inhibit microbial growth. Melroy and
Wisoff also team up to complete final connections and outfitting of
the Z1 pressure dome, that links cables between the externally-mounted
truss structure and the Unity module.

Mission Specialists Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao will work together
to check out the control moment gyros ^÷ the attitude control
system integrated into the Z1 truss ^÷ connecting a laptop computer
to a local power bus and commanding on operational heaters to provide
additional warmth for the CMGs prior to their activation following the
arrival of the ^”Destiny^‘ laboratory module early next year.

NASDAastronautKoichi Wakata once again will power up
Discovery^“s robot arm, this time to conduct a photographic survey
of the International Space Station.

All seven crew members will participate in transferring equipment
between Discovery and the Unity and Zarya modules of the station. The
bulk of the material to be transferred to the station includes
computer equipment, hardware and IMAX camera equipment that will be
used to document life on the station. In return, Discovery will carry
a variety of material back to Earth, including a protein crystal
growth experiment that has been on board the station since it was
installed by the STS-106 crew in early September, becoming the first
microgravity science experiment to be conducted on board the space
station.

Late in the day, Commander Brian Duffy will begin the process of
closing hatches between the Zarya and Unity modules as the
seven-member crew leaves the space station. The final hatch closure
between Discovery and the International Space Station should occur
just before 4:30 p.m. today. Discovery is scheduled to undock from
the station Friday morning at 8:40 a.m. CDT.

Duffy, Melroy, Chiao and McArthur will take a break from their
activities this morning to discuss their mission with Space.com, ABC
Radio Network and KNX Radio, Los Angeles in a series of interviews
beginning at 11:57 a.m.

The action shifted back inside the International Space Station on
Thursday, as Discoveryastronauts completed connections for the newly
installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment
and supplies for the first resident crew of the Station, the
Expedition One crew, scheduled to arrive early next month.

The crew also tested the four 630-pound gyroscopes in the truss,
called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as
it orbits the Earth. The crew spun up the gyros to about 100
revolutions per minute, largely to confirm their speed and power
consumption. They will ultimately be spun up to about 6,000
revolutions per minute once they assume attitude control of the ISS
following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny, scheduled for
January.

Mission Specialists Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao used a laptop
computer to conduct the tests, which included turning on the gyroscope
heaters. The heaters are designed to keep the gyros from being damaged
by the cold of space.

Those tests, and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya
Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final
departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed until Friday
morning, which, in turn, will delay Discovery's undocking from the ISS
for about ninety minutes to 10:09 a.m. CDT time Friday. The later
docking time will have no impact on other Shuttle operations for
tomorrow.

Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialist Jeff Wisoff took samples
from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. Melroy and
Wisoff also unclogged a solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's
toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief
interruption in service.

In other news, NASA and Russian officials announced today that the
Expedition One crew will be launched on a Soyuz rocket from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 1:53
a.m. central time, 10:53 a.m. Moscow time. The one day adjustment in
the launch date was made to accommodate the Soyuz rendezvous
requirements needed to reach the ISS two days after liftoff. Docking
of the Soyuz and the Expedition One crew, Commander Bill Shepherd,
Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev is
now set for Thursday, Nov. 2, at 3:20 a.m. central time, 12:20
p.m. Moscow time.

Discovery'sastronauts will begin an eight-hour sleep period at 9:17
p.m. CDT tonight and will be awakened at 5:17 p.m. Friday to prepare
for their undocking.